GAZA: At least 50 Gaza families living next to the front line with Israel had fled their homes by the seventh day of Israel’s air war but far more people will be uprooted if there is any ground invasion, the UN relief agency in the enclave said yesterday.
The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which serves over one million Palestinians in Gaza, has directed the displaced to one of its schools for “protected shelter,” offering them mattresses, blankets and some kitchen tools.
There has been no massive displacement so far, Filippo Grandi, UNRWA’s Commissioner General, told Reuters during a visit to a distribution center in the Gaza Strip.
“What usually triggers displacement is a ground operation, a ground offensive. That’s why we really hope that a ground offensive will not happen because among many other things it will also cause a lot of humanitarian problems,” Grandi said. More than a half of the 115 Palestinians killed so far were civilians, including 27 children. Street-to-street urban fighting could raise the toll significantly.
Many Gazans believe Israel is deliberately targeting houses to mount pressure on Hamas to cease fire. Nael Al-Attar, 28, said he had fled his house with his wife and two children “under fire from the Israeli Army.” “The Jews killed children, the elderly and women. We hope this does not last long and we urge all countries to intervene and resolve the conflict,” Attar said. He added: “We thank Hamas and all other organizations for their resistance. Do all you can to terrorize the occupier.”
Meanwhile, efforts to end a week-old convulsion of Israeli-Palestinian violence drew in the world’s top diplomats yesterday, with President Barack Obama dispatching his secretary of state to the region on an emergency mission and the UN chief appealing from Cairo for an immediate cease-fire.
Hillary Rodham Clinton departed for the Mideast yesterday from Cambodia, where she had accompanied Obama on a visit. Clinton is to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank and Egyptian leaders in Cairo, according to US and Palestinian officials.
Netanyahu said yesterday that Israel wouldn’t balk at a broader military operation.
“I prefer a diplomatic solution,” Netanyahu said in a statement after meeting with Germany’s foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle. “But if the fire continues, we will be forced to take broader measures and will not hesitate to do so.”
Early yesterday, Israeli aircraft targeted another Hamas symbol of power, the headquarters of a bank senior Hamas officials set up to sidestep international sanctions on the militant group’s rule. After Hamas overran Gaza, foreign lenders stopped doing business with its militant-led government, afraid of running afoul of international terror financing laws.
The inside of the bank was destroyed and a building supply business in the basement was damaged. “I’m not involved in politics,” said the business owner, Suleiman Tawil. “I’m a businessman. But the more the Israelis pressure us, the more we will support Hamas.”
A man identified as the most elusive top military commander of Hamas is urging the group’s fighters to keep up attacks on Israel.
Mohammed Deif, seriously wounded in an Israeli airstrike in 2003, says Hamas “must invest all resources to uproot this aggressor from our land,” a reference to Israel.
Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby, accompanied by 10 Arab ministers, crossed into Gaza yesterday on a solidarity visit, the Hamas government announced.
“The Arab foreign ministers delegation has arrived through the Rafah border crossing,” Hamas information office said in a statement, adding Turkey’s foreign minister was with the delegation.
Meanwhile, A Bahrain lawmaker says he set fire to an Israeli flag during a Parliament session in a show of support for the Palestinians in Gaza.
Osama Al-Tamimi says he smuggled a canister of gasoline into the chamber and set the flag ablaze yesterday. The incident prompted a five-minute suspension of the session. Al-Tamimi says he sought to “send a clear message to the international community” about Bahrain’s support for the people of Gaza.
Gaza invasion could displace thousands, warns UNRWA
Gaza invasion could displace thousands, warns UNRWA
Libya brings in Western traders in blow to Russian fuel flows
- The tenders will further reduce Russian product imports into Libya
- Russian fuel exports to Libya have fallen to around 5,000 bpd in 2026 from 56,000 bpd in 2024–2025
LONDON: Global oil firms and traders including Vitol, Trafigura and TotalEnergies have won tenders to supply Libya with gasoline and diesel as the country grants large Western players wider access and reduces imports of Russian fuel, three trading sources told Reuters.
Libya is in the process of overhauling its oil sector 15 years after the fall of leader Muammar Qaddafi and years of civil wars.
The country produces some 1.4 million barrels a day of crude but lacks the infrastructure to refine it, leaving it reliant on fuel imports.
After issuing upstream licensing rounds for the first time in 20 years in an effort to grow crude output to 2 million bpd, Africa’s second-largest oil producer is now changing how it sells its oil and buys the fuel it requires.
Rather than swapping fuel imports for crude exports, it has instead awarded tenders to cover its fuel needs.
In the tenders in recent weeks, which have not previously been reported, Vitol won the rights to supply 5-10 gasoline cargoes a month and some diesel volumes, three traders familiar with the results said.
Trafigura and TotalEnergies also won the right to supply fuel, two of the three traders said. Reuters could not establish the exact volumes.
Vitol, Trafigura, and TotalEnergies declined to comment. Libya’s state-owned National Oil Corporation did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the tenders.
RUSSIAN IMPORTS DROPPING
The tenders will further reduce Russian product imports into Libya as Western firms source their volumes from refineries in the Mediterranean.
Russian fuel exports to Libya have fallen to around 5,000 bpd in 2026 from 56,000 bpd in 2024–2025, when it was the dominant supplier, according to live data from global analytics firm Kpler.
Italy has become Libya’s top fuel supplier this year with 59,000 bpd, mainly from the ISAB and Sarroch refineries run by Trafigura and Vitol, the Kpler data showed.
Moscow has relied heavily on Africa, Asia and South America for fuel sales after its refined products were banned from the West under sanctions linked to the war in Ukraine. The Kremlin has also seen its oil exports to India and Turkiye fall under US pressure, pushing more oil toward China.
Overall fuel exports into Libya from all sources have averaged around 186,000 bpd since the start of 2024.
FIRMS ALSO GAIN ACCESS TO CRUDE EXPORTS
Libya will also change the way it handles crude exports, the sources said.
Swiss-based trading firm BGN, previously a key exporter, will see crude liftings fall sharply, all three traders said, as big Western players will be allocated export rights.
Small Swiss-based trader Transmed Trading also picked up several crude cargoes in January and will keep lifting volumes in coming months, two of the three sources said.
Transmed and BGN did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Libya also signed a 25-year oil-development deal with TotalEnergies and ConocoPhillips in January, involving more than $20 billion in foreign-financed investment.
